Graduation rates improve for Tuscaloosa-area schools, though figures still trail state average

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 11:00 PMJan 23, 2014 at 12:01 AM

The students, teachers, parents and school administrators at all nine Tuscaloosa city and county high schools have a reason to celebrate. For the first time in at least five years, every high school in both school systems improved its graduation rate from the past school year.

By Jamon SmithStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

The students, teachers, parents and school administrators at all nine Tuscaloosa city and county high schools have a reason to celebrate.For the first time in at least five years, every high school in both school systems improved its graduation rate from the past school year.According to a report from the Alabama Department of Education, the overall graduation rate in the Tuscaloosa City School System rose from 65 percent in the 2011-12 school year, to 72 percent in 2012-13. The overall graduation rate in the Tuscaloosa County School System rose from 68 percent in 2011-12 to 77 percent in 2012-13.“This is something we've always thought we could get done if we could get everybody — all stakeholders, parents, students and community — to buy in,” said Tuscaloosa City Schools Superintendent Paul McKendrick. “We had to get some basics in, and now we have to move along further.“I think the biggest thing we did is that we put an emphasis on teaching and learning. I know that sounds cliché, but that makes a big difference. The graduation coaches, counselors and all the programs made a difference, but if we don't have teaching and learning going on in the classrooms, none of the other stuff will matter. I really think in the next few years we'll see some more success.”Tuscaloosa County Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Swinford said she's pleased with the county system's results, but that it has a lot more work to do.“We are not yet in a place of pride, but we are certainly not at the bottom, and we are moving up,” Swinford said.Neither school system's overall graduation rate is as high as the state's average, which rose from 75 percent in 2011-2012 to 80 percent in 2012-2013. But the graduation rates at a few individual high schools in the systems have actually surpassed it.In the city school system, Northridge High's graduation rate rose from 75 percent in 2011-2012 to 81 percent last year.Two schools peaked above the state's 80 percent average in the county school system. Sipsey Valley's graduation rate went from 80 percent in 2011-2012 to 81 percent in 2012-2013. And Hillcrest's graduation rate shot up from 79 percent to 85 percent.Arguably, the most significant improvements in graduation rates didn't come from schools that climbed above the state average, but schools that saw the largest percentage increase.Paul W. Bryant High in the city schools had a graduation rate increase of 8 percent. It rose from 64 percent in 2011-2012 to 72 percent in 2012-2013.In the county schools, two schools increased their graduation rates by even larger margins.The graduation rate at Tuscaloosa County High went up by 10 percent, growing from 68 percent in 2011-12, to 78 percent in 2012-13.But the school with the biggest improvement in its graduation rate was Brookwood High School. Brookwood went from having a 59 percent graduation rate in 2011-2012, to a 75 percent graduation rate in 2012-13. That's a 16 percent improvement from one year to the next. No high school in either system has come close to matching an increase that large in at least five years.“I'm proud of all my schools, but particularly Brookwood for coming up with ways to track their students and programs to meet the needs of their students to guarantee their graduation,” Swinford said.“When you look at their career technical education, they're way above the rest of the schools. They're always coming up with new ways to keep the attention of their kids. My hat's off to them. All the rest of the schools are aiming to do the same thing, it's just that Brookwood has been doing it all along.”Before 2011-12, the formula used to calculate high school graduation rates in Alabama was different.The old formula counted students as having graduated if they graduated from high school in five years or less, said state department of education spokeswoman Malissa Valdes-Hubert last year. The old formula also counted students as graduates if they received a completion certificate rather than a traditional high school diploma, which is what most special education students earn, she said.The new graduation formula, which was used in 2011-12 and in 2012-13, only counts students as graduates if they graduate from high school in four years or less with a traditional diploma. The new graduation formula is one that's used in most states, and will eventually be used in all states, Valdes-Hubert said. That means that Alabama can now truly compare its public high schools graduation and dropout rates to high schools in other states.As a result of graduation formula changing from a five-year graduation track to a four-year one, the graduation rate of every high school in the city and county school systems dropped in 2011-2012. But as of last school year, it appears that the graduation rates at all high schools in Tuscaloosa County are climbing back up to their pre-graduation rate formula change percentages.

Reach Jamon Smith at jamon.smith@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.

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